Retro format 01 of 27
Start Stop Continue retrospective
Three columns: what the team should start doing, stop doing and keep doing.
- 30–60 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
Any normal sprint, and teams new to retros. It turns straight into actions because every note is already a behaviour.
Also called: Start stop continue template
Facilitator tip
If Stop stays empty, ask for one meeting, check or rule that nobody would miss.
The Start Stop Continue board, drawn out.
3 areas: Start, Stop, Continue. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Start
Pair on any PR over 400 lines
2Stop
Merging after 4 pm on a Friday
3Continue
The Friday demo to the support team
How to run a Start Stop Continue retrospective.
About 60 minutes as written. Change the length in the agenda builder below and every step scales with it.
- 1
Check in
5 min
Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- 2
Write silently
8 min
Everyone writes notes in the three columns on their own. One idea per note. Silence first stops the loudest person setting the agenda.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Each person reads their notes and adds them to the board. Questions to clarify only, no debate yet.
- 4
Group and dot-vote
5 min
Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- 5
Discuss the top topics
17 min
Talk through the top two or three clusters. For each, ask what a small first step would be.
- 6
Agree action items
10 min
Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- 7
Close
5 min
Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Prompts to put on the board.
Read one out when the writing stalls, or paste them next to the columns.
- What should we start doing that would have saved us time this sprint?
- What are we doing that costs more than it gives back: a meeting, a manual step, a review rule?
- What worked well enough that we should protect it when things get busy?
- Which process did we add in a hurry that we can stop now?
- What would make code review or deploys faster next sprint?
Your Start Stop Continue agenda, timed to your slot.
Fill in the team and the time. Copy the agenda into Confluence, Notion or Google Docs as formatted text, or grab the Markdown.
Length
- 0:00–0:05Check in · 5 min
- 0:05–0:13Write silently · 8 min
- 0:13–0:23Read out · 10 min
- 0:23–0:28Group and dot-vote · 5 min
- 0:28–0:45Discuss the top topics · 17 min
- 0:45–0:55Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:55–1:00Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Start, Stop, Continue
Length: 60 min
Three columns: what the team should start doing, stop doing and keep doing. Any normal sprint, and teams new to retros. It turns straight into actions because every note is already a behaviour.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:13 | Write silently | 8 |
| 0:13–0:23 | Read out | 10 |
| 0:23–0:28 | Group and dot-vote | 5 |
| 0:28–0:45 | Discuss the top topics | 17 |
| 0:45–0:55 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:55–1:00 | Close | 5 |
How to run each step
- Check in (5 min). Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- Write silently (8 min). Everyone writes notes in the three columns on their own. One idea per note. Silence first stops the loudest person setting the agenda.
- Read out (10 min). Each person reads their notes and adds them to the board. Questions to clarify only, no debate yet.
- Group and dot-vote (5 min). Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- Discuss the top topics (17 min). Talk through the top two or three clusters. For each, ask what a small first step would be.
- Agree action items (10 min). Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- Close (5 min). Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Board
- Start
- Stop
- Continue
Prompts
- What should we start doing that would have saved us time this sprint?
- What are we doing that costs more than it gives back: a meeting, a manual step, a review rule?
- What worked well enough that we should protect it when things get busy?
- Which process did we add in a hurry that we can stop now?
- What would make code review or deploys faster next sprint?
Last retro's action items
| Action | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
Action items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
Copy pastes as formatted text into Google Docs, Notion or Confluence. Markdown is for GitHub, Jira or Slack.
Try next, when this one gets stale.
- 20
What Went Well
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 04
Sailboat
- 45–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 06
KALM
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
Book the retro on a day the whole team is in.
A retro with two people out hears half the sprint, and its actions have no owners. Forgot shows sprints, holidays and time off on one board, so you can see who's out on retro day before you send the invite.
Start Stop Continue retrospective questions
What is a Start Stop Continue retrospective?
Three columns: what the team should start doing, stop doing and keep doing. Any normal sprint, and teams new to retros. It turns straight into actions because every note is already a behaviour.
How long does a Start Stop Continue retro take?
30 minutes at the shortest, and about 60 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Start Stop Continue remotely?
Yes, it works well on a video call. Set up the board on a shared whiteboard before the call, give everyone silent writing time with cameras optional, and use anonymous dot-voting.
What goes on a Start Stop Continue board?
3 areas: Start, Stop, Continue. For example, from a software team: Start: “Pair on any PR over 400 lines”; Stop: “Merging after 4 pm on a Friday”; Continue: “The Friday demo to the support team”.
What team size is Start Stop Continue for?
2 to 20 people. With more people, split into groups for the writing and discussion, then bring the top topics back together.
What can I run instead of Start Stop Continue?
What Went Well, Sailboat, KALM. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.